Give owners of derelict greenhouse sites an incentive to clear them
THE NATIONAL TRUST’S Mike Brown’s stance on derelict greenhouses is laudable, but ignores the fact that if nothing happens, they will remain just that, eyesores into the foreseeable future. There is no incentive for owners to clear their property – an expensive business – and restore to agricultural land.
I would suggest the way forward would be for the DPA to firstly produce a comprehensive survey of such properties. A very limited number of sites – those in already built up areas – could be considered as suitable for affordable housing. The owners could then be invited to apply for a permit to develop – conditionally. Granting of such permit would attract a windfall tax of, say, 50% of the value.
If adopted this could earn some much-needed revenue for the States, some of which could possibly be used as a grant to assist those landowners who would like to clear up their land but cannot justify the cost of doing so.
Any such scheme, if adopted, is bound to be controversial, but if it helps to ease the housing shortage and cleans up some of our less attractive locations at the same time, then surely it’s worth considering?
MICHAEL WATT